John potter



PATENTE AUG.19, 185g.

J. POTTER. 'TENONING' MACHINE.

UNITED sfrarns 'PATENT OFFICE.

`JOHN POTTER, OF ELLIGOTTSVILLE, NEW YORK.

TENONING-MACHINE.

i Specification of Letters Patent No. 15,572, dated August `19, 1856.

TQ all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN POTTER, of Ellicottsville, in the county ofCattaraugus and State of New York, have invented a certain new anduseful `Improvement in Tenoning-Machines, of which the following is afull, clear, and exact description, reference being had to theaccompanying drawing, which forms part of `this specication, and inwhich-` Figure l represents a plan or top view of the main working parts1of the machine in the act of cutting a tenon; Fig. 2 a vertical frontview of the same; F ig. 3 a side view of the clamp arrangement whichholds the stuff on thecarriage, detached; and Figs. 4L and 5 diagrams inillustration `of the operation of the cutters on the wood.

Itvis well known that circular saws and revolving knife cutters havebeen used in connection `both for cutting tenons on the ends of railsandfor various kinds of work, but the relative arrangement and action ofthese in combination for cutting tenons have been for the `most partgrosslydefective. y lt is also well known that one or`more setsor headsof revolving knife cutters for scooping out the work as it is pushedpast them have been used for certain kinds of work connected with theplaning or reduction of wood and, as mere devices, such are old, as, ofthemselves also, are revolving circular saws arranged in pairs oppositeeach other to cut into the work on opposite sides as it is pushed pastthem. But as before stated much or all depends in certain descriptionsof work upon relative arrangement and operation together of deviceswhich in themselves are old.

In some tenoning machines, a pair of revolving circular saws are used,arranged vertically and opposite each other at a suitable distance apartto nick `or cut the shoulder of the tenon on either side, while knivesor chisels secured radially or tangentially on the one side or face ofsaid saws chip away the wood to the required depth between the shoulderand point ofthe tenon to form the tenon as the rail is pushed along andpast or through and between this combination of knife'and saw cutters.But this action is bad. The knives on the two saws not digging into andleaving the wood eX- actly at the same time, or, accordingly as they aresharp or blunt, cutting with difer ent degrees of force on oppositesides of the rail, cause the rail however tightly held to keep up acontinuous `trembleatthe tenon point or end so that a waved `or jaggedsurface is produced which makes the tenons t badly, and it is impossiblewith cutters so arranged and operating to cut a good long or ratherbroad tenon at all, in consequence of the spring and so forth, whilesuch a-rn rangement and action of the knives, in relation tothe lsaws,has .no tendency to relieve the bind l of the saws in the wood, and, astenons are ordinarily arranged, these knives do not cut at all with thefiber but across it; nor `can such aA combination of knives with thesaws cut a bevel shoulder to the tenon as is commonly required in theconstruction of bevel doors, paneling, and so forth.

In some other tenoning machines, circular saws altogether Vare used, onepair arranged vertically, as the saws (a` and b) are in the iaccompanying drawing, to cut the shoulder of the tenon on either side,and another pair of saws arranged horizontally or` at :rightA angles tothe first pair, to cut the two sides or `faces of t-he tenons. But thisarrangement `or combination of circular saws is almost if not quite asobjectionable as the armon with it, and the horizontal saws inparticular operate badly, they binding too greatly in the `wood toeifect anpeasy cut even where the tenon is a narrow one, and to cut adeep or broad one by saws thus acting is out ofthe question, they alsoby reason of their thinness and elasticity sag 1and so shake or trembleas seldom to cut in a straight path, especially where the wood isknotty, and which gives an untrue face to the tenon; and again, such anarrangement ofsaws does not admit of a tenon being cut so deep or broadas to pass thecenters of the horizontal saws as the axes or shafts ofsaid saws would `necessarily intercept the tenon or remnant being cut oneither side to form the tenon, the saws not chipping away the wood asknives do,1but the binding of the saws would, in a general way, preventanything like so deep a tenon being cut.

In the arrangement represented inthe accompanying drawing all thesedefects are avoided and a perfectly true tenon of any required depth orbreadth and with square or bevel shoulder may be cut with ease.`

The stuff or rail being worked (A), is fed or pushed forward asindicated by the arrow y and has the square shoulder (e) of the tenon(f) cut, by its end or edge at the required distance passing in betweenand through as it were the revolving circular saws (a and b) as in themachines before described. A little in advance of these circular saws(a, b) are a pair of horizontal cutter heads (c and d) which revolve asindicated by the arrow w in Fig. l, and which are so arranged inrelation to the saws as to cut the sides or faces of the tenons, cuttingthe wood (where it is a rail designed to have a tenon on the end) mainlyin part direction of the fiber and so as to relieve the binding tof thesaws (a, b), by the knives bearing on the wood in their cut to free itfrom pressure on, the outer sides of the saws in front, the knivescutting from the shoulder to the point of the tenon and where a springhas been formed by the incisions of the shoulders, saws and the reduction of surplus wood by the knives. Thus the cut of both knives andsaws is made easy and light, and there is no irregular up or downpressure of the knives to produce trembling. of the tenon, and a tenonof any breadth may be cut with ease to the cutters, the cutter heads (cand cl) having their vertical driving shafts (g) proj ect-ingexclusively from their outer faces so that the tenon, if a broad one,may pass Y the centers of said cutter heads as much or as little asrequired, and the inside faces of the cutter heads will serve as bedsurfaces o-r guides to keep the tenon steady, the heads beingsuiiiciently stiff' for that purpose. (For these effects and operationssee Figs. I and 2 of the drawing.)

The knives or cutters (s, s) of the cutter heads (c, d) may be eithersquare or bevel nosed at their ends. In the drawing they are shown asalternately square and bevel whereby the cut is made lighter, the bevelnosed knives (s) first reducing the wood as shown by black outline ofthe shoulder' (e) in Fig. 5 and t-he square or straight nosed knives (s)following up to cut off the angle so formed till the shoulder is finallyfinished as represented by red lines in Fig. 5, if the shoulder isrequired to be a square one; but if the shoulder is required to be abevel one, as represented in Fig. 4 of the drawing, then the bevel nosedknives (s) are set radially in advance or excess of the square knives,or bevel nosed knives altoto avoid complication the hanging of the sawsand cutter heads in adjustable sliding frames for this purpose has notbeen shown in the drawing, such arrangements being common and wellknown.

The timber under operation is firmly held on the sliding carriage (B) bya hinged clamp (C) that is jointed or hinged at its one end to a screwswivel pin (7c) the thread of which fits a female thread in a screw boxprojection (Z) through which the pin (7c) passes, so that by unhookingthe lever or clamp (C) at its opposite end from bite into any of theteeth of the catch (m), and the clamp or lever being raised, it may beraised or lowered at its hinged end by turning it and its screwed swivelpin in the suitable direction so as to bring the clamping slide (0) toits true or required level to bite a thicker or thinner piece of stuffas required. The mere raising of the front end of the clamping lever, orlowering it, would not do this.

What I here claim as new and useful in cutting tenons, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The combination of the revolving knife cutter heads (c, d) androtating saws (ca-b), when these devices are arranged in relation toeach other and for operation together as shown and described, causingthe knives of the cutter heads to relieve the saws from binding andinsuring many other advantages in the cutting of the tenon as specified.

2. Further, I claim the alternate arrangement on the cutter heads (c,d), when operating in specified relation to and connection with thesaws, of the square and bevel nosed knives or cutters (s 8), for actionwith each other and the saws in the formation of the shoulder as setforth.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name.

JOHN POTTER.

)Witnesses z.

WM. M. SMITH, A. GREGORY.

